To Play With Fire
by hgwriter123
Summary: Sequel to To Meddle With Fate. Melody Upmire is a tribute in the Games To End All Games, a vicious last Hunger Games that will leave 23 Capitol children dead and one alive. How will Melody cope with alliances, Careers, and the blood splattered rules of the Hunger Games...? T for violence and language.
1. Fortune Tellers Can Be Good Persuaders

Chapter 1

Fortune Tellers Can Be Good Persuaders

KATNISS

I lean back in my chair, my brain swirling with what I have just witnessed. First of all, according to this... future, if I had never shot Coin then she would have had me executed. Well, I knew that she loathed me and wanted me dead, but we had an agreement. None of the surviving victors would be harmed. Maybe she used her president status to have the agreement revoked. That sounds like something she would do.

Secondly, this Melody girl... she was Snow's granddaughter? Huh. I know she hated me as well for killing Snow (well, if I had killed Snow), but I can't help feeling a little sorry for her. And the other tributes. Maybe they weren't all that bad. Well... the Capitol was. But they're all still human.

I now know I made the right choice in shooting Coin. If I had shot Snow, then both me and Melody would have suffered. But because I shot Coin, we both got to live. Well, I got to live, I'm not sure about Melody. I wonder where she is now, if she's still alive. Certainly not president - Paylor has that job. But she could still be living in the Capitol with a family of her own. And I can't believe that it was one choice that saved twenty three children's lives.

I look at the one-eyed old woman, whose grinning at me. "Please," I say. "I must be getting back to my family..."

The old woman pouts. "But what about Melody? I know you want to know what would have happened to her, if this was to be..."

She's right. I'm dying to know what would have happened to Melody. Maybe I can stay a little bit longer. I'm staring at the still swirling contents of the glass sphere, transfixed.

"Alright, I'll stay a little bit longer," I say, sitting back down. The old woman smiles a toothless grin.

"O.K, deary, look into the ball then,"

I lean forward, ready to see more of Melody Upmire's mesmerizing, yet heart-breaking story.


	2. This Is No Ordinary Arena

Chapter 2

This Is No Ordinary Arena

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy sixth Hunger Games begin!" Claudius Templesmith's voice booms around the arena. And inside my brain.

Right. I have sixty seconds to work out a where I am, where my allies are and a plan. Then the gong will sound and the tributes will be free to leave the pods that brought them into the arena. I can see the golden Cornucopia shining in the brillinat sunshine, it's horn shaped body sizzling, and it's contents spilling out onto the grass. My eyes home in on a silver bow leaning up against a crate of goods, with a pack of arrows next to it, waiting to be engaged. I must have that bow and those arrows. They are mine.

O.K. I'm going to dart in for that bow and pick of any tributes that try to attack me. I'm fast, a lot faster than most of the girls in my school. I should be able to outrun these people. I look to my right, scanning the circle of tributes for Careers... yes! There's one, four people away from me. It's the boy whose meant to be from District 1. And on his right is the girl whose meant to be from District 7. Quite far away from me on my left is the girl whose meant to be from District 2 - her eyes are locked on a fiercome array of swords and knives. I can't see Pluto or any of the other Careers - they're probably on the other side of the Cornucopia. Good. That means they're far away from me.

I can see all of my alliance as well, which is good. Rainée is on the pod next to me - she nods at me encouragingly. Looks like she's going for the centre too.

There's thirty seconds left. Step off your pod early and you are blown sky high. I now look at my surroundings...

What the?! What is this? The starting positions and the Cornucopia seem to be in a open field. And this field seems to be in a perfect circle. Outside of the circle... it seems to be cut of into segments! In front of me, in the distance, I can see snow covered hills and even a mountain! On this segment's right is a giant lake with a few islands jutting out... and are those paths joing the islands and the mainland together? I can also see a volcano next to that, giant clouds of black smoke floating up out of the top. And on the snow land's left their seems to be some sort of swamp, and next to that... a ruined city? I wonder what's behind me.

I turn, and am stunned to see there's a desert landscape next to the ruined city, and directly behind me there's a thick patch of undergrowth. A forest. How big is this place?

One thing for sure is that this is no ordinary arena.

I turn back towards the Cornucopia and focus my eyes on the bow. I'll worry about the landscape of the arena later. Right now, I have to focus on surviving the bloodbath at the beginning. It's time to play the Hunger Games.

_Ten... Nine... Eight... Seven... Six... Five... Four... Three... Two... One... _GONG!


	3. Bloodbath

Chapter 3

Bloodbath

As soon as the gong sounds, I sprint for the bow and arrows. I don't think I have ever ran so fast in my life - I easily get to the Cornucopia before anyone else, and some of the tributes haven't even stepped off their pods. I snatch up the bow and pull out an arrow, before slinging the pack on my back and loading the bow. I'm ready to shoot.

I sense the immediate danger I my right and I turn, firing the arrow at the girl whose meant to be from District 2. She twists out of the way just in time, and the arrow skims her neck. Crap, she's heading this way! I dart further a field, my bow and arrow poised, ready to fire if necessary. There are some backpacks and other items spread out around the field, their value decreasing the further away they are from the Cornucopia. I feel something tap my shoulder, and I turn around ready to fire.

If I had not hesitated, Gino would have been dead. He holds his hands up in surrender and I relax the bow. "Sorry, you scared me!"

I see he has two backpacks on his shoulder - he takes one off and hands it to me. "Here, take it. I'm going in for more weapons,"

"I'll cover for you," I say, and he darts off towards the Cornucopia. I notice how empty the field is - I guess lots of the tributes fled as soon as the gong went. The Careers are on the outskirts of the field, chasing them and trying to pick them off. I can see one or two dead tributes in the distance - I guess the Careers don't know that we're hear, taking the stuff. Aren't we lucky.

I spot Rainée by the Cornucopia, running towards me, a backpack slung over her shoulder and a sword in her hand. Suddenly, I watch him jump onto her back. I see the crazed look in his eye, hear the battle cry coming from his lips. Rainée falls to the ground, petrified.

"No!" I scream at the boy whose meant to be from District 6. Before I know what I'm doing the arrow is already lodged in his skull. Blood squirts everywhere, and he screams before rolling off Rainée and thrashing around on the floor. A moment later, he's still. Dead.

I run over and help Rainée up. "Thanks," she wheezes. "I thought I was dead then!"

I look at down at the boy's body. He looks so innocent in death, yet his eyes are alight with craziness. My eyes shift to the arrow wound in his head and I look away, swallowing back my vomit. I lean down and retrieve the arrow that took his life.

"Where are Hope and Taylor?" I ask. Rainée shrugs - she's still trying to get her breath back. I spot Gino, whose now accompanied by Frederic, sprinting over. They are both carrying swords, and I can see a sling of knives is sticking out of Gino's pocket.

"Shit," he says, panting and looking over his shoulder. "The Careers are coming back. Where should we go?"

"Probably the forest," Frederic says. "There's a lot of protection there,"

"The forest sounds cool," Rainée agrees, and I nod too. It will be harder for the Careers to find us there, and we can also have protection from the blazing sun. We take off at a run and reach the edge of the trees just as the Careers reach the Cornucopia - I turn back and see they're holding spears and God knows what other fancy weapons. Anamaria even has a bow on her back. I wonder how many tributes they killed.

We don't stop running until we're deep in the forest, and then we stop to rest and make camp. "We've got lots of food as well, since none of us knows how to hunt," Gino says, opening his backpack to show Rainée and I the pile of fresh fruit, crackers, beef strips and other items. "What happened to Hope and Taylor?"

"I'm not sure," I say, taking off my backpack and unzipping it to see the contents inside. "I saw them just before the gong went, but after that..."

It's true. I was so caught up in trying to get the bow and arrows, that I lost sight of them. I hope they both weren't one of the dead tributes. I guess we'll find out tonight.

I put my bow and arrows beside me, and I'm not going to let them out of my sight. I got them, and I'm not going to lose them.

"Good," Frederic says, and I look at him confused. "At least we won't have to save the neck of that stupid little girl when she gets caught by one of other tributes,"

I glare at him. How could he say something like that? About a sweet and innocent little girl? "It's funny," I say angrily. "But I could easily shoot you right now, if I wanted to,"

Frederic looks up at me, his fists clenched. His jaw locks into place. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I don't like what you said about Hope," I say, my grip tightening on my bow. "Would you like me to call you stupid? Stupid,"

I'm asking for it, but I don't care. My fists are shaking in anger and frustration. Frederic grabs one of his knives.

"Listen, Upmire. I can say whatever I like about the other tributes, but I will not sit here and be called stupid. Now shut up, before I slit your throat,"

"Well, you better watch out I don't slit yours! Kentham," I say, standing up now, and Frederic stands up as well.

"Guys, please," Gino says, getting up and putting his arms out as a shield. So me and Frederic don't run at each other. "Let's not argue. Or threaten to kill each other. So, who wants to come with me and collect some firewood?"

Frederic and I glare at each other for a little while longer, before he relaxes. "I'll go," he says, still a little angrily.

I don't sit down again until Gino and Frederic are out of sight. Rainée stays quiet, and searches through her backpack for items whilst I do them same for mine. Once I'm sure I've got everything out, I lay it all out on the ground. I'm got a good load - a pack of knives, a sleeping bag, some crackers and beef strips, two canisters (one of them is filled with water), a flashlight, and an extra jacket. Not bad for a backpack that wasn't in the Cornucopia.

"What did you get?" I ask Rainée, and she shows me. She has similar things, including an extra flashlight and a canister of water, but she lacks the knives and a sleeping bag. However, she does have a pair of night vision goggles, which are very exciting. I have a pair back home, and you can see things even when it's pitch black. Those will be really useful.

I know it's just about time before either me or Frederic attempts to kill the other. But when that time comes, and I have to either attack or defend myself, I'll be prepared. I hope.


	4. A Glimmer Of Hope

Chapter 4

A Glimmer Of Hope

They fire the cannons just as Gino and Frederic return with armfuls of firewood. Each cannon is meant to represent one tributes death, and they usually fire the bloodbath cannons after the fighting has stopped at the Cornucopia and the killers have dispersed. We all go silent, listening to the shots.

_One... Two... Three... Four... _Then there's silence. Four? There were only four deaths? Usually, as it has been in past Hunger Games, around half of the tributes are wiped out in the bloodbath. This time, not even a quarter were killed. I guess most of the tributes who ran away as soon as the gong rang out escaped. But not all of them. I guess will find out who those people were, the ones who died, tonight.

I definitely know that the boy who was meant to be from District 6 is one of those dead. I killed him. I remember the horrific wound in his head and cringe. I've never been responsible for the deaths of anyone before. Except maybe my parents, and that black haired servant girl. But those don't count. I feel so bad - that boy had a family, who must be mourning his death and cursing my name. But this is the Hunger Games. And only one person can survive.

It's all of a sudden got super cold, and I relish that we have to put out the fire when nightfall comes. But we have to. In case the Careers or any other possible attacker sees the ember flames against the black night. And that would mean death for all of us.

The anthem begins to play, and we all look up at the sky. A giant, floating screen can be seen moving across the sky, so it can be seen from anywhere in the arena. I'm guessing the screen is attached to an invisible hovercraft, since not even the Capitol can make screens float. I would know.

The modernized seal of Panem shines on the screen. Then, it disappears, only to be replaced with a simple headshot of the first dead tribute. Back home, we would be watching footage of each tributes death, but in the arena, only a picture is shown. So no one knows what weapons other tributes have. It's clever.

The first person to show is Sheela, who was meant to be from District 3. I glance at Frederic, who was her "district partner", to see if he's upset. He just looks up at the screen, emotionless. Of course he wouldn't care. No one does. Then both the tributes who were meant to be from District 6 show up. My gut wretches when I see the boy who was meant to be from District 6's picture. Well, what was I to expect? He couldn't of survived an arrow to the head. And I didn't even know his name. And his "district partner" is gone as well - that means that District 6 is out of the Games.

There's one more person to come up. Please don't be Hope or Taylor. Not helpless little Hope. Please.

I sigh in relief when the boy who was meant to be from District 9 shows up on the screen. Then the anthem finishes with a final musical flourish, and the sounds of the forest return to break the silence.

So there's twenty of us left. And all the Careers are still alive. Of course. But the good news is that Hope is still alive. And Taylor. So they must be out there somewhere. Possibly fighting another tribute. Somewhere in this giant arena. I wonder where they are...

I hear the rustle of the bushes before anyone else does, and I flinch. Was I imagining it? I must of been, since there's silence, except for the whispered conversation between Gino, Rainée and Frederic. No. There it is again! I turn, and flicking on my flashlight, scan the bushes from my spot. My heart is pounding - the Careers have found us.

"What is it Melody?" Gino asks.

"There's someone in the bushes," I whisper. Or some people. Everyone is silent - no one is daring to breathe. If it is the Careers, then why haven't they attacked us yet? Maybe it's not them. But another tribute. Or it could just be an animal. Even it is just something like a fox, I'm being precautious.

"Should I go check?" Rainée asks quietly.

"No," Gino says firmly. "If anyone should check, it'll be me,"

"Don't be stupid," Frederic hisses. Before he can continue I interrupt him.

"No one is checking," I say. "Are you all mad?!"

I turn back to the bush. I only just manage to spot the boot, then it's gone. But a boot was enough - no one has feet that size. Except for one person. And I immediately relax, before rising to my feet.

"Melody, what are you doing?"

I ignore Gino and begin to move towards the bushes. My breathing slows. "Hope?" I say softly. "Hope, is that you? It's me. Melody,"

There's silence for a few moments. Then a tiny voice whispers from the gap between to bushes, and I shine my flashlight at the gap to see her frightened face staring up at me.

"Melody?"


	5. Night Watch

Chapter 5

Night Shifts

"Hope!" I say, relieved, and she jumps out of her hiding place and wraps me in a bear hug. I notice she has a backpack on her back, and that she has a small dagger in her pocket, which presses into my leg. I'm glad to see her, and I can tell she's thrilled to see me.

"Melody," She says, letting go of me. "I had to get away from the Cornucopia fast because Tev was chasing me. When I came back to try and find you, you had gone. I've been searching the whole forest for you!"

"Tev," I say, as we both sit down on the grass. I put the flashlight, which is still on, on the ground as the others give Hope a terse nod. Rainée smiles at her as well. "Which one is that?"

"The District 2 girl," Hope replies. "Her real name is Tevina, but she hates her name, so everyone calls her Tev,"

"How do you know this?"

"I've been spying on them," she says, pulling bits of grass out of the ground. "They're in the forest as well!"

"Probably looking for us?" Gino inquires, and Hope nods.

"They seem to be intent on finding you guys only," she says.

"Why didn't you show yourself earlier?" I ask. She must have known that it was us that was sitting here, and not another pack like the Careers. She might have been there before we came, and we just happened to stumble upon her by luck. I'm worried that the Careers are also in the forest, looking for us - well, probably me. I guess Pluto's still angry about me equalling his training score. And the girl whose meant to be from District 2 - Tev, was it? - doesn't have a particular shine for me either.

"I thought you were Pluto or Felix," she says sheepishly, before pulling out a cracker from her bag and nibbling the corner of it. It seems that every backpack contains crackers. Maybe she has some beef strips as well.

"Is Felix the District 1 boy?" Rainée asks, and Hope nods. Then, Rainée lies down on the grass, closing her eyes. "Well, I'm off to sleep now,"

"Same," Frederic adds. He casts a dark look over at Hope (thank goodness she didn't see it) and lies down as well, clinging onto his backpack. "Turn that flashlight off will you, Upmire?"

I glare at him, and I am about to shine it right in his face when I catch the look Gino's giving me. "What?" I ask.

"Nothing," he says, then he leans in closer to me. "Sorry about Frederic," he whispers so only I can hear. "He's a little..."

"Cranky," I raise my eyebrows. Gino shrugs.

"Yeah. Cranky. Anyway, I'll take first watch," I lie down in my sleeping bag, glad I don't have to lie in the itchy grass. Poor Rainée and Hope. I don't care about Frederic - I hope the grass gets into his clothes.

"Wake me in a few hours," I reply. "So I can take watch,"

"Sure,"

I drift slowly, glad that we now have Hope on our team as well, and that she's safe and alive. When I finally fall asleep, my dreams are plagued with visions of the boy from District 6's death, and of Pluto finding me and driving a sword through my heart. Eventually, my brain works in the sight of my parents' tortured bodies, them lying on a pristine white, yet cold, Capitol floor, with their eyes wide open, blind to the world...

The sound of a cannon firing jolts me awake, and I sit up sharply. It seems to have disturbed no one else, as everyone is still fast asleep in their various positions. Gino sits unmoved, and he's watching me.

"Nineteen left," he says.

"Yeah," I reply, and I'm secretly glad. Even though that doesn't feel right. Because I'm one step closer to going home. I hope the cannon belongs to one of the Careers - hopefully Pluto. That would be good. I guess we'll find out the next night who the dead tribute is.

"You were meant to wake me earlier," I say, and Gino shrugs.

"I didn't want to disturb you," he replies. "But, if you don't mind, I'll go to sleep now,"

I grin, thinking about how attractive he looks in the torch light. He hands the flashlight over, and I'm just about to take it when the twig snaps, and we both stop dead in our tracks. It came from quite close to hear.

"What was that?" I mouth, and Gino looks at me, worried. Then the sound of voices waft over.

"... I hope it was one of their team," A female voice says, and my blood turns to ice.

"It better not have been Upmire," A male voice retorts. Pluto. And he's so close. "When I find her, I'm going to kill her in my own special way..."

"Aw, but I wanted to kill her," Tev whines. Hope was very accurate about where the Careers were. I wish she would have warned us how far away they were. I flex my fingers, before looking at Gino and mouthing "Turn the flashlight off". God, I hope they haven't seen it. Please tell me they haven't seen the illuminating light.

Before Gino has the chance, Pluto says something that crushes every feeling inside of me. "Hey, is that a flashlight shining over there?"


	6. Dark Meeting

Chapter 6

Dark Meeting

Crap. We're dead. We're all dead. Unless we move now.

In an unspoken agreement, Gino switches the flashlight off and we start to rise the others. I shake Hope desperately, whilst listening to the conversation the Careers are having.

"What do you mean?" I hear Tev's voice say. Hope is awake now, and her eyes widen when she hears the Career speaking. "There's no flashlight shining there, Pluto,"

"You must be seeing things," This comes from Anamaria. "Come on, Pluto, lets move on,"

"There was definitely a light there," Pluto says, and I can hear leaves crunching under his boots as he moves towards our camp. "Let me check it out, and then we'll move on,"

"Shit," I hear Gino mutter. Everyone is up now, and we're all hoisting backpacks onto our backs and gripping our weapons tightly in our hands. There's no way we'll get away without risk of getting caught. Without a pursuit ensuing. I shift an arrow onto my bow and hold it up, so it's pointing at the light of Pluto's flashlight. As soon as I see him, I'll shoot. And I won't miss.

As soon as I spot Pluto's face in amongst the bushes, I fire. Luckily for him, the wind decided to pick up then and the arrow soared centimeters from his temple. But he saw the arrow. And he can see my face illuminated in the light of the flashlight. And he can probably see the others.

"It's them!" He shrieks, pushing his way through the bushes. "It's her! They're here!"

We all turn and bolt. It's a miracle we all had the same idea to run in the same direction. As I'm flying through the trees, I can hear the Careers whooping with delight, destroying the peaceful silence of the forest with their shrieks. _They're going to catch us_, I think. Because they are. Eventually.

We break the cover of the trees, and sprint in the direction of the Cornucopia. All the unused stuff is piled just outside of the entrance - this is probably where the Careers made camp. I can see the snow mountain in the distance, standing as tall as ever. I decide it's no point running, and I should turn and fight.

I load an arrow and send it flying at Tev's head. She twists out of the way and continues on in a full out sprint, with Pluto and the others lumbering behind. They're all here. Pluto, Tev, Anamaria and Felix. The boy and girl who are meant to be from Districts 4 and 7 are here as well, which is no surprise. They wouldn't want to miss out on the action.

You'd think it's well planned. How the Careers all go for different people. But it's luck on their behalf. Two people charge at me - Pluto, of course, and the District 7 girl. Pluto has a speared raised, ready to throw it, and I can see the knife in the other girl's hand. They're both out to kill me. And they're both in shooting range, so I am out to kill them.

Suddenly, without warning, something comes flying in from my right at super speed. It embeds itself in the District 7 girl, right where her heart must be. She lets out a small shriek, before falling to the ground.

BOOM!

The sudden death of his fellow Career throws Pluto off guard. His spear misses me by about a metre, and the next object that has been thrown misses lands in his thigh. He cries out in pain and stops, pulling out the object and tossing it aside, before backing away. It's a knife! The Careers are confused and they have all stopped running - instead, they are looking around sharply.

"Retreat!" Pluto cries and they begin to head back for the woods in a sprint. Another knife misses Anamaria's head by inches, and another nearly clips Felix's shoulder. The boy whose meant to be from District 4 makes it to the trees first, followed closely by the others. And then they're gone.

We're all extremely confused ourselves. Where did this knives come from? I turn and see three figures running to us, getting close. I instinctively load an arrow and aim it at the smallest figure, the one in front. The other two are much taller than the middle one, and the figure on the left is huge. I'm about to let the arrow fly when Rainée shouts something that makes me halt.

"Taylor!"

I relax. Could this figure be Taylor? I just don't know. And, if it is, why is she accompanied by two large figures?

The reply answeres my first question. "Rainée!" That is definitely Taylor. Yes, I can her blonde hair flowing in the light wind now. Who are her companions?

Taylor reaches us and embraces Rainée. Then me. And then the others. I now recognize the two other tributes - its the huge boy whose meant to be from District 11! Hope's "district partner"! His dark skin camouflages him well in the dark, and you can barely see his cropped black hair. The boy standing next to him is considerably smaller. His light brown hair moves briskly in the breeze, and his green eyes survey the situation. I think he might be the boy whose meant to be from District 10.

"It's so good to see you all," Taylor grins. She then goes and stands next to the brown-haired boy. "This is Monty, the District 10 boy," She then turns to Hope's "district partner", who towers over her. "And this is-"

"Klagen," Rue interrupts. She's smiling up at her "district partner", whose grinning back. "Nice to see you again,"

"Hello Hope," Klagen replies in a deep voice. He glances at the rest of us briefly, before looking back at Taylor.

"How did you meet them?" I ask.

"By accident," Monty says before Taylor can reply. "In fact, I nearly killed her and Klagen,"

"Did not," Taylor retorts, although she's laughing. "I just struck up a mini alliance with them. Klagen first, and then Monty. I told them that I was looking for you, and they seemed eager to tag along,"

"We want to take down the Career pack just as much as you do," Klagen says, grinding his knuckles. "We now outnumber them. Especially now that we've killed one of there teammates,"

He nods towards the dead District 7 girl. I walk over to her, and pull the knife out of her body - I try not to look at the wound, nor the blood that sticks to the knife like glue. "Whose knife is this?"

"Mine," Monty says, taking it off me.

"You must be a really good thrower then," Gino says. "You saved our lives!"

Monty grins at him. "I try my best,"

"So," Frederic interrupts, coughing indignantly. "Now that we're done with the introductions, where to now?" You can tell he's annoyed at more people joining the alliance.

"Yes, right," Taylor says. "Did you guys come from the forest?"

"Yep,"

"We can't go back in there, because the Careers are there," I point out.

"And we can't just stay here in the open either," Hope adds.

"True. My best guess is that we should go to the snow part or the abandoned city,"

"The snow part sounds good," Rainée says. "We could hide up in the mountain. It's big, and no one woul really want to climb up it. Apart from us,"

"The snow part it is then," Frederic says, and he begins to walk towards the tall crescent of the mountain in the distance. Personally, I don't want to risk freezing to death and be constantly cold, but what choice do I have? The others are already heading after him, so I might as well follow. Best to stay in a group. Besides, it might not even be that cold.

I run back quickly and retrieve the arrow I fired at Pluto, purposely ignoring the dead tribute. _Eighteen left, _I think to myself as I pick up the arrow. I then head after my companions as the sun begins to rise wearily over the horizon.


	7. So Many Lines

Chapter 7

So Many Lines

Boy, was I wrong. As soon as we step into the snow section of the arena, the temperature drops rapidly. Luckily, these jackets seemed to have thermal heating inside of them, as the only place I can feel the cold is my hands and face. Taylor is the only person in her little alliance to be wearing a backpack, and there's no extra layers inside hers. I'm starting to think that coming to this part of the arena was a really bad idea.

The sun is fully in the sky by the time we're only five minutes into the snow segment. Suddenly, a loud klaxen-like blaring goes off. We all stop and cover our ears, and almost as suddenly as it came, it goes.

"What was that?!" Gino asks, but I can barely hear him beacuase my ears are ringing. I look up and see the floating screen is back, but it doesn't carry the seal of Panem. Instead, it has a giant circle pictured, with a little circle in the centre. The big circle is split into seven even segments - two of these segments are highlighted white, and the others are shaded grey. I am clueless as to what this means. Underneath this, in bold text, is the sentence "One Hour".

"What an earth does that mean?" Hope voices the question that must be in everyone's minds. What does it mean? My brain is still fuzzy from the klaxen sound, and I can't think about anything.

"Maybe it's a map of the arena?" Rainée suggests.

"It could be," Monty says. "The arena is shaped like a sphere, and it seems that it is also split off into seven segments, each themed differently,"

You get the feeling Monty is extremely clever. And I bet he gets everything right - a good ally.

"We should make camp here," I say, dropping my backpack down. Everyone agrees (except for Frederic of course, who seems to be adverse to any of my ideas), and we all sit down on our bags because of the snow. Someone suggests that two of us should go back to the Cornucopia to get more supplies, which seems like a valid idea. No one wants to do it though, and we end up having to play a silly game to choose the two people. Unfortunately, Frederic and me are chosen.

The odds are _not _in my favour of late.

We head for the Cornucopia in silence. It's an extremely awkward time, especially as we loathe each other. Oh, and that we're in the Hunger Games. But apart from that, I'm having the time of my life. Not.

The giant pile of booty is left where it was, so the Careers have not touched it. But I guess they must be guarding it, and they're nearby, so we better be quick. I remember Monty's lost knives, and decide to be kind and retrieve them for him.

"You collect some things," I say. "I'm going to try and find Monty's knives,"

Frederic nods, although I can tell he disagrees. But he doesn't complain, so it's all cool. As I walk away from the Cornucopia, I notice that the body of the girl who was meant to be from District 7 is gone. It was probably taken away by a hovercraft.

I manage to find three of the four knives he tossed - they all seem to be at the edge of the forest, and I slip them into my backpack. I spend a while trying to find the fourth knife, and I'm just about to give up when someone grabs me from behind and pulls me into the trees. I turn and I am about to lash out when I see it's Frederic.

"What is it?" I hiss, annoyed that he startled me. He ignores my comment.

"The Careers," he says, pointing. I turn and see Pluto striding towards the Cornucopia, the others following in his wake (with the obvious absence of the District 7 girl). My blood turns to ice, just as it did last night when the Careers found us. My luck just seems to get worser and worser.

I pull Frederic back into the trees, so we can't be seen. An extra precaution. I can still see the Careers though, and I can hear their conversation.

"Where do you think they went?" I hear the boy whose meant to be from District 4 ask. I know he's talking about our group.

"I don't know!" Pluto says, kicking one of the small crates in frustration. It's contents spill out onto the ground. "They could be anywhere in this arena by now!"

"Maybe they went back into the forest," Anamaria suggests. She's fiddling with her token, the ring, sliding it up and down her finger.

"Nah, they couldn't have. They wouldn't dare, since they saw us disappear into it last night,"

"Where should we check then?" Tev asks.

"Why don't we try the mountain," Felix suggests, pointing at the tall mass in the distance. "That seems a likely place they could have gone too,"

"Yeah..." Pluto says, scratching his chin. "Good thinking, Felix... O.K, lets try the mountain,"

Crap. The rest of our tem are, what, only a few minutes away from the Cornucopia? They'd find them in no time. Frederic and I have to get to them, and change the direction we're going in - fast.

We begin to edge around the borderline between the field and the forest, whilst the Careers are debating about which items they should take with them. We're about halfway back to the edge of the snow part when they finish packing, and head off into the thick snow. We've been gone from the rest of the team for nearly an hour now, so they must be getting worried about us. As soon as the Careers are a considerable distance, we run for the snow.

"Maybe we can get to the others before they can," I say, as my feet break the snow. "If we run super quick, and-"

The rest of my words are blocked out by another blast of the loud klaxen noise. Frederic and I both flinch, holding our hands to our ears, Frederic still standing in the field.

That's when I see the lined wall coming down.

It slices down really fast, and before it manages to cut me off from Frederic, I grab his jacket and pull him into the snow. We both topple over, landing in a heap in amongst the white flakes. I look at the wall - for a moment, I can see the Cornucopia and the field, behind so many red lines that show me that the wall is even there. Then, the wall turns opaque, and I can see no more past this wall.

Immediately after, two cannons fire, one after the other. I sit up in the snow, confused. I can feel the cogs in my mind spinning - this wall must be connected to the cannons. How could two tributes die as soon as this wall come downs? It doesn't make sense, yet it can't be just a coincidence. It can't be.

I get up and reach my hand out to the wall. My fingertips are millimetres from the grey surface when he shouts.

"Don't touch it!"

I head Frederic's words and step back. I turn and see Frederic walking up to the wall, curiously.

"What is it?" he asks, looking at me.

And I have no answer. Because I just don't know.


End file.
